Enhanced video programming system and method utilizing user-profile information

ABSTRACT

Maintaining a file specifying a “donut” of dynamic, hierarchical, shared user-profile information. The donut contains a user profile or acts as a key to a data repository containing it, and it specifies user-profile information such as user characteristics, viewing preferences, hobbies, and spending habits. The donut is accessed by browser programs, associated web server programs, and other applications for use in routing content to the user associated with the donut.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/409,305, filed on Sep. 29, 1999, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

The following United States patents are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,069, entitled “ENHANCED VIDEOPROGRAMMING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A DISTRIBUTED COMMUNITYNETWORK”; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,120,871, entitled “ENHANCED VIDEOPROGRAMMING SYSTEM AND METHOD UTILIZING A WEB PAGE STAGING AREA.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today, the capabilities of computers to provide massive amounts ofeducational and entertainment information has exploded with theInternet. The Internet has the power to transform society throughunprecedented levels of information flow between members. Currently,on-line systems offer a variety of different services to users,including news feeds, electronic databases (either searchable by theuser directly on the on-line system, or downloadable to the user's owncomputer), private message services, electronic newsletters, real timegames for play by several users at the same time, and job placementservices, to name a few. However, today, most on-line communicationsoccur merely through text. This currently stands in great contrast tothe audio/visual presentation of the alternative electronic medium,television. However, it is expected that as multi-media's incessantgrowth continues, audio/visual programs will proliferate and text willbecome less and less dominant in the on-line environment. Even thoughthese programs will be introduced, the Internet, will remain essentiallyuser unfriendly due to its very massiveness, organization, andrandomness. Simply stated, there is no order or direction in theInternet. Specific pieces of information are many times hard to find,and harder yet, is the ability to put that piece of information into ameaningful context.

Television, on the other hand, has been criticized for being a passivemedium—“chewing gum for the eyes,” as Fred Allen once observed.Television has always been something you watched, not something you do.Many social critics believe that the passivity television depends on hasseeped into our entire culture, turning a nation of citizens into anation of viewers. While interactive television systems have increasedthe level of user interaction, and thus, provided greater learning andentertainment opportunities, vast information resources such asdatabases are inaccessible from such a medium.

What is needed is a means to close the gap between video programming andthe information superhighway of the Internet. What is needed is a wider,richer experience integrating audio/visual and textual database elementsinto an organized unique interactive, educational, entertainmentexperience. Currently, the Internet is a repository of information onvirtually any subject. However, what is needed is a mechanism forcombining the user-friendly visual experience of television with thevast information resources of the Internet. What is further needed is asystem and method for distributing content with that mechanism combiningtelevision programming with Internet resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems consistent with the present invention combine broadcasttelevision programming and/or video programming which appears on a VHSor Beta tape, CD-ROM, DVD or other medium, or particular content fromthe Internet, or video programming at a video server (hereinafter “videoprogramming”) with the massive Internet, creating a new and powerfuleducational and entertainment medium. The system allows consumers toreceive more information in a more efficient manner than eithertelevision or the Internet alone. Consumers not only can see a newsreport on television, but they can also read pertinent information aboutthe report, as well as explore related information about the story. Theprogram becomes the introduction to a particular subject, rather thanthe entire subject itself. The act of viewing a program has now become amore engaging, enriching experience.

The system can also create a more intimate relationship between theviewer and the program. The user might be solving problems or performingvirtual experiments on the Internet site that a teacher is discussing inan educational television program. Similarly, the consumer might besolving problems that the fictional characters in a television programmust solve. In both cases, the consumer is an active participant in theprocess, rather than a passive observer.

Instead of an undirected and unfocused exploration of Internet sites, bysynching specific Internet pages to the video signal, the system putsthe Internet in context. The television program producers now can decidewhat additional information to offer their audience. This material cannow be seen in the context of the television program.

An additional advantage is that consumers don't have to search throughthe literally hundreds of millions of pages on the Internet to findappropriate material. The material has already been filtered by theprogram producers and delivered to the consumer automatically.

Another advantage of the system is that it changes the nature ofadvertising. Since additional information can be given to consumersautomatically, advertising can now be more substantive, allowingcustomers to make more informed choices. Now, the act of purchasing aproduct seen on television can be streamlined—the consumer can be giventhe choice of buying the product instantly using the two-waycapabilities of the system.

In addition, users can take advantage of the two-way capabilities of theInternet to respond to polls, to send e-mail or to link to additionalsites. For example, a viewer watching a television news program, throughthe system of the invention, can receive a stream of Web pages whichprovide additional, specific information relating to the newscontent—whether background on the Presidential primaries or the latestchange in interest rates.

The video programming and corresponding Internet pages can be viewed onpersonal computers equipped with a television card, but the opensoftware-based approach enables anyone with a television set and JAVAenabled PC to experience the system of the invention.

By marrying the appeal of video with the two-way data transfercapabilities of the Internet, the system creates a powerful new medium:Video producers and Internet site creators can enhance their content toextend their brand identity and differentiate their program offerings tothe millions of people who are spending more time navigating through theresources of the World Wide Web rather than watching television;advertisers can speak more directly to consumers by directly sending Webpages to the consumer instead of only displaying Web addresses in theircommercials; and consumers can gain a new level of interest andinteractivity over a video-based medium. In addition to providingsignificant and immediate benefits to broadcasters and advertisers, thesystem will also present educational programmers with a way to moreeffectively use Internet resources in the classroom.

Recently, several media companies have joined to create a system forlinking the Internet and television on the personal computer, called“Intercast.” In this system, content will be provided simultaneouslywith the TV video signal. This system, however, requires that strippeddown Web pages be sent in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of thevideo signal, using up to three scan lines limiting effective bandwidthto approximately 28.8 kbps. This approach, however, requires specializedhardware to both insert the Web pages into the VBI and extract thesecodes at each PC since it takes up to three scan lines of the VBI. Thus,the complexity and cost of the PC is increased. Because the Web pagesare transmitted with the video signal, the Intercast system is not atrue “two-way” system, but merely a one-way “piggyback” system. Inaddition, the Intercast is an analog video product, and thus, cannothandle digital video data.

Systems consistent with the present invention, on the other hand, aremuch more flexible, but less complex, systems. The systems supporteither analog or digital television broadcasts without broadcasters orend-users having to alter their existing systems, thus enablingbroadcasters to reach a wide audience within a short time.

In one embodiment, the actual Web pages are not forced into the verylimited bandwidth of the vertical blanking interval (VBI). Instead,merely eight fields of line 21 of the VBI are used to deliver therelevant Internet Web page addresses to the PC. These addresses arecalled “uniform resource locators” (URLs). The system then directs theparticular Web browser to retrieve the identified Web pages from theInternet. Upon receipt of the particular Web page(s), the system syncsthe Web page(s) to the video signal, and at the appropriate times,presents the Web pages on one portion of the computer screen with thetelevision video signal, shown in a window on another portion of thescreen, and thus, provides the synergistic Internet and televisionexperience. One of the advantages of the system of the present inventionis that no specialized chip set need be produced and implemented intothe standard PC. Thus, complexity is kept to a minimum.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the VBI is not used totransmit the URLs to the user. In this alternative embodiment, memberbroadcasters enter the Internet through a member account, and will beprovided with a graphical user interface for pre-scheduling Internetaddresses, or URLs, for transmission to users at particular times ofday. This interface could also be used to transmit real time livetransmissions of URLs to users at the same time as a broadcast. The URLsare stored in a “Link File” for later transmission over the Internet tothe user at the broadcasters entered time, which corresponds to thebroadcast time of an associated program. The timing of URLs could bedetermined in advance or can be sent out live. This embodimenteliminates the need to place the URLs in the VBI, and also allows thebroadcaster to store more than one Link File for transmission to usersin different time zones, for example. Further, more than one broadcastercould access the same master schedule if desired, and add or deletecertain URLs to personalize the program for their local audiences. Also,personalization can be taken to the single user, or small group ofusers, by having the system send a different stream of URLs to eachuser, depending on a unique user profile, for example. Thus, thepersonalization feature of this embodiment allows each user to receiveinformation uniquely relevant to their interests, demographics, history,etc. This embodiment makes the transmission of URLs to the user evenless complex than other embodiments disclosed herein.

Another embodiment permits dynamic reconfiguration of a network fortransmitting content, such as that located using the URLs. The networkreferred to as a distributed community network, includes hubs that maylogically reside on any machine and provide control of routing packetscontaining the content. By using hubs to assist in routing of packets,the burden of routing control at a corresponding server is decreased,enhancing the reliability and efficiency of the network in transmittingcontent and permitting access to content.

Thus, embodiments consistent with the present invention provide orderand direction to the Internet by using television signals to place,orient and control such information in a meaningful context. They alsocreate a more intimate relationship between the viewer and the programby enriching the learning experience through the provision of morein-depth information.

An article of manufacture consistent with the present invention is usedfor compiling and maintaining information for use in routing andtransmitting content to a machine via a network. It includes acomputer-readable medium includes fields for specifying anidentification of the machine, an address of the machine, anduser-profile information for use in determining a type of content totransmit to the machine. The user-profile information is specified in anhierarchical structure.

A method consistent with the present invention includes compiling andmaintaining information for use in routing and transmitting content to amachine via a network by specifying particular fields within acomputer-readable medium. The method includes receiving information foruse in generating a user profile and specifying in the medium, using theinformation, an identification of a machine, an address of the machine,and user-profile information for use in determining a type of content totransmit to the machine. The user-profile information is stored in anhierarchical attribute value pair data structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the system design, showing the receipt anddecoding of video signals at the subscriber location using the method ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an alternative system embodiment to achievethe integration of the Internet information with the video content bydecoding the uniform resource locators at a server site and thentransmitting the URLs to the subscriber stations via the Internet.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the basic software design of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another preferred system embodiment toachieve the direct transmission of URLs over the Internet to the user ata broadcaster's entered time without encoding the URLs into the VBI.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of another preferred embodiment including a digitalcable box.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of another preferred embodiment including a digitalT.V.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a user interface illustrating a playlist.

FIG. 8 is a sample display provided to a student of a lesson.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the distributed Com Server embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of logical structure of a donut for implementinguser-profile information.

FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C are a flow chart of a process for generating andimplementing donuts specifying user-profile information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Video Programming System and Method

One system consistent with the present invention combines the richvisual capabilities of video with the vast resources of the Internet. Asshown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the invention is a computer basedsystem for receiving a video program along with embedded uniformresource locators (URLs)—which direct the user's computer 16 to addresslocations, or Web sites, on the Internet to retrieve related Web pages.These Web pages correspond to the 20 video presentation. The particularvideo programming can be delivered in analog, digital or digitallycompressed formats (e.g., MPEG2) via any transmission means, includingsatellite, cable, wire, television broadcast or sent via the Web.

The video programming is preferably created at a centralized location,i.e., content creation 4 as shown in FIG. 1, for distribution tosubscribers in their homes, for example. Program creation isaccomplished according to any conventional means known in the art. Aftera video program is created, uniform resource locators are embedded, inone embodiment, into the vertical blank interval of the videoprogramming by the URL encoder 8, shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment,the URLs are encoded onto eight fields of line 21 of the VBI. Line 21 isthe line associated with close captioning, among other things. However,the URLs could also be embedded in other fields of the VBI, in thehorizontal portion of the video, as part of the audio channel, in anysubcarrier to the video, or if digital, in one of the data fields.

Although FIG. 1 shows the video with URLs over the same transmissionline, the URLs can be sent down independently of the video program on adata channel. In this embodiment, the URLs can be forwarded to theremote sites either prior to initiation or during the program.Preferably, the URLs have associated time stamps which indicate to thesubscriber stations when, during the video program, to display theparticular Web pages addressed by the URLs. Alternatively, the user canselect when to call the particular Web pages for display with the videoprogram.

The particular information in line 21 is not part of the visual part ofthe program, and thus, is not perceptible to the human eye, therebymaking it ideal to send data information to the users. While thebandwidth capacity of line 21 is limited, because the system transmitsonly the uniform resource locators (URLs), and not full Web pages, thereis more than enough capacity. Furthermore, no additional hardware isnecessary at the PC 16 to implement the elements of the presentinvention. Thus, the present invention has the additional advantages ofbeing very efficient and takes advantage of conventional hardware.

Once the video program is created, it can be transmitted to user sitesover any transmission means, including broadcast, cable, satellite, orInternet, and may reside on video servers. Furthermore, the videoprogram, with or without embedded URLs, can be encoded on a VHS or Betatape, DVD or other medium.

Preferably, each receiver station comprises any Intel x86 machine(preferably a 486 processor, pentium processor, etc.), an AppleComputer, UNIX or any other type of standard computer workstation. Thelocal PC 16 is preferably connected to either a cable and/or broadcasttelevision connection or to a local VCR or other video source. At eachsubscriber site, the local personal computer 16 preferably receives thecable transmission by cable connection on the back of the personalcomputer 16. The video/audio program can then be processed for displayon the computer screen using any conventional PC card capable ofdisplaying NTSC signals on a computer monitor, such as a WinTV card. Inaddition to the cable connection, however, in the present inventionthere is also an Internet 20 connection created concurrently with thecable connection.

The Internet 20 connection can be via high-speed line, RF, conventionalmodem or by way of two-way cable carrying the video programming. Thelocal PC 16 has Internet access via any of the current ASCII softwaremechanisms. In one embodiment, at each subscriber home, an associatedlocal URL decoder 12 receives the cable video television program, asshown in FIG. 1. The local URL decoder 12 extracts the URLs, preferablyembedded in the vertical blanking interval, with the use of anyconventional VBI decoder device. The URL decoder 12 may be either astand-alone unit or a card which is implemented into the personalcomputer 16.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the uniform resource locators(URLs) are encoded into the video in the same manner as described above.Again, the URLs are preferably encoded onto eight fields of line 21 ofthe VBI, but may also be sent independently of the video. In thisembodiment, the URL decoder 24 is located at the server site, as opposedto the subscriber location. When the decoder 24 receives the videoprogram signal, it strips out the URL codes on line 21 of the VBI anddelivers these codes independently to an Internet server 28. The URLcode is then subsequently delivered over the Internet 20 to the user PC16. Simultaneously, the video is broadcast over conventional broadcastor cable transmission means 36 to the user's personal computer 16.

Another embodiment of the system, shown in FIG. 4, does not depend on,or even use, the VBI. In this embodiment, the system will run an onlineservice over the Internet 20. This service will be in the form of anInternet Web site 62 that provides a user-interface to a database 78 andto one or more associated data servers 90. The service will providemember-accounts to TV broadcasters 66 who sign up to use the system ofthe invention in conjunction with their broadcasts. Each memberbroadcaster will enter the service at their computer 70 through Webbrowser software 74 using their member account by entering variousidentification and password information. Once within their account, themember will be provided with a graphical user interface forpre-scheduling URLs for transmission to users 118 over a direct Internetconnection 94 at particular times of day. The same user interface, or avariation on it, can be used by broadcasters for live transmission 82 ofURLs to users at the same time as a broadcast 86.

For example, one example of this interface might be a schedulingcalendar (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) in which the broadcaster 66may allocate time periods which coincide with their broadcasts 86, andduring which they will send out URLs to their users to link to Webpages. For each time period (for example, a particular hour long periodduring the day) determined by the broadcaster 66 to be a broadcastperiod (a period during which they want to transmit URLs that correspondto a television show being broadcast from their TV broadcast facility110 to the external TV 114 of the user 118 at that time), thebroadcaster 66 may then enter a series of URLs into an associated file(“Link File”) for transmission over the Internet 20 at that time. ThisLink File might have a user interface such as a spreadsheet, table, orlist, or it could be simply a tab-delimited or paragraph-delimitedtext-file. As an example, each of the records in the Link File consistsof a data structure which could contain information such as:

(<timecode>, <URL>, <label or title>, <additional information>,<additional information>, . . . )

The above data structure is just one example. The records in the LinkFile preferably specify the time, Internet address (i.e. URL), label(such as an associated name), and some optional additional information,for each Web page the broadcaster 66 desires to launch during a show.

When a broadcaster 66 modifies their calendar and/or the Link Fileassociated with any given time period(s) in their calendar, thisinformation is saved into the database 78 that is attached to the site62. Each broadcaster 66 may maintain multiple calendars in the database78 if they broadcast in different time zones, for example.

The database 78 provides the Link File records for upcoming time periodsto a server 90, which may be one server or a distributed network ofserver programs on multiple computers across the network, to be utilizedfor scaling to large national or global audiences. The server 90provides the Link File records, including the URLs, to the user'spersonal computer 16, which is connected via a network. Examples ofpossible networks include the public Internet 94, a direct privatenetwork, or even a wireless network.

One feature of the above embodiment is that one or more broadcasters 66may utilize the same schedule in the database 78 for their ownbroadcasts 86 or during the same broadcast. For example, a networkbroadcaster may develop a master schedule and various affiliatebroadcasters may subscribe to that schedule or copy it (in the database)and add or delete specific URLs in the schedule for their localaudiences or unique programming. This scheme enables affiliates toinsert URLs for local advertisers or local subjects into a sequence ofmore general URLs provided by their network broadcaster 66. In otherwords, the affiliate can add links that ride on the network feed andthen redistribute it to their local audiences.

This embodiment can also enable personalization in the form of uniqueseries of URLs specific to each user's unique profile, which is directlysent over the Internet 20 to each user's specific client software 106.This can be achieved from the broadcaster 66 to each individual user118, or to particular collections of users. To accomplishpersonalization, the service may send a different stream of URLs to eachuser's client software program 106. The stream of URLs sent would dependon a user profile stored in the database 78 or the client softwareprogram 106, a user profile which is built on demand or over time foreach user 118 based on criteria such as the location of the user,choices the user makes while using a client software program 106, orchoices the broadcaster 66 makes during a broadcast 86, or automaticchoices made by an algorithm (such as a filter) residing on the service62. Personalization enables each user to receive URLs which are uniquelyrelevant to their interests, demographics, history, or behavior in thesystem.

System Operation

Once the URLs have reached the personal computer 16, system operation issimilar for all of the embodiments diagramed in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4.

In one embodiment, a JAVA enabled browser 98 as well as specializedsoftware 106 for performing part of the method of the present inventionare installed on the computer 16. The JAVA enabled browser 98 allows thecomputer 16 to retrieve the Web pages 102 and is preferred software,since it is platform independent, and thus, enables efficient andflexible transfer of programs, images, etc., over the Internet 20. Thespecialized interface software 106 (hereinafter, “client software”),attached as Appendix A, acts as an interface between the videoprogramming and the Internet functions of the present invention. Theclient software 106 retrieves URLs from the video program (embodiment ofFIG. 1) or directly from the Internet connection (embodiments of FIGS. 2and 4), interprets these URLs and directs the JAVA enabled browser 98 toretrieve the particular relevant Web pages 102, and synchronizes theretrieved Web pages to the video content for display on the user'scomputer 16, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and explained in more detailbelow.

In one method, the URLs are encoded and embedded into the video signalby inserting them into the vertical blanking interval (VBI), asmentioned above.

In another embodiment, the URLs are entered by member TV broadcasters 66along with specified times for transmitting the URLs to the user. At theappropriate times, the URLs are sent directly over the Internet to theuser's PC 16 via the client software 106 over a direct point-to-point ormulticasting connection.

One method of the present invention has the capability to detectidentical URLs sent directly after one another which causes the browsernot to fetch URLs in these particular cases. As shown in FIG. 3, oncethe URL code is received at the computer, the client software 106 firstinterprets the URL and determines in step 42 whether the particular URLhas been received previously. If it has already been received, the nextreceived URL is interpreted for determination of prior receipt. If theparticular URL has not been detected before, the software checks formisspelling in step 46 and any other errors, and if errors exist,corrects these particular errors. Once again, it is determined whetherthe URL has been previously detected. If it has, the next URL isaccessed in step 38. If the URL has not been detected, the specific URLis added to the URL list in step 54. The specific URL is then sent tothe Web browser, preferably a JAVA enabled browser 98. Upon receipt ofthe URL, the browser 98, in step 58, will access the Web site address122 (FIG. 4) indicated by the URL and retrieve the cited Web page(s) 102via the Internet.

Viewers can view the integrated presentation in the following manner. Asmentioned above, the video signal is processed and displayed on a videowindow on the PC screen using a WinTV card, for example. Thecorresponding audio is forwarded to the audio card and sent to the PCspeakers.

The actual retrieved Web pages 102, referenced by the URL, areoptionally time stamped to be displayed on the computer screen whenpredetermined related video content is displayed in the video window,thus, enlightening and enhancing the video presentation by providingin-depth information related to the video content thereto. Anothersection on the screen is also preferably used to represent anoperational control panel. This control panel provides a list of theURLs that have been broadcast and correspondingly received by thecomputer 16. This control panel is updated to add a URL code each time anew URL code is received by the PC 16. This list gives the subscriberthe flexibility to go back and retrieve particularly informative orinteresting Web pages that have already been displayed earlier in theprogram, or alternatively, to print them out for future reference.Furthermore, the list could include URLs referring to Web pages notdisplayed with the broadcast program, but that provide furtherinformation on a certain topic of interest to the viewer.

An exemplary implementation of the present invention can best beunderstood with reference to an example. A viewer can begin watching amusical video featuring a new band, for example. As the video isreceived by the PC 16, URLs are either being received with the videosignal or are being received directly via the Internet 20 or anotherdata channel, and are being interpreted by the client software 106. Upondirection and command, the JAVA enabled browser 98 retrieves particularWeb pages 102 from Internet 20 Web sites identified in the URLs. TheseWeb pages 102 will then be displayed on the video screen at particulartimes. Thus, for example, while the viewer is watching the music video,biographical information on the band can also be displayed adjacently tothe video window. Web pages 102 could also include an upcoming concertschedule, or even audio clips of the band's music may be downloaded fromthe Internet 20. As another example, a user could be watching a programrelating to financial news. While the narrator is shown discussing hightech stocks, Web pages corresponding to detailed financial performanceinformation on high tech stocks, environment and characteristics can bedisplayed with the video on the computer screen. If the personalizationfeatures are included, Web pages associated with a particular user'sstock can be fetched and displayed on the computer screen with the videoprogram. When the program narrator switches to a discussion on theweekly performance of the Dow Jones, Web pages presenting relatedfinancial performance information can be simultaneously displayed. Thus,it is evident that the present invention profoundly enriches the viewingand learning experience.

It is understood that there can exist alternative embodiments for usewith the present invention. For example, the user can view theinteractive program using a television set 114 or other display monitorin conjunction with the display screen of the personal computer 16. Inthis embodiment, the relevant Web pages are shown on the personalcomputer 16 while the video program is displayed on the televisionmonitor 114. In this alternative embodiment, a cable set top boxreceives the television program from the multichannel cable. Thepersonal computer 16 also receives the video program from themulti-channel cable and extracts the URLs, embedded in the verticalblanking interval of the video signal or directly transmitted 94 overthe Internet 20. The client software 106 extracts the URLs and retrievesthe particular Web pages as described above. The Web pages are thensynchronized with the particular video frames and presented to the user.It is understood that a hyperlink may exist on the Web site that willallow the user to automatically load the client software and call up thespecific television channel referenced in the Web site. For example,someone browsing the Internet 20 may come upon a major televisionnetwork's Web site. They scroll to an interesting story then click on anhyperlink to turn on the software which tunes the TV window to thenetwork to enhance the information residing at the Web site.

Furthermore, instead of receiving the video program from a transmissionmeans, the video program can be addressed directly from the user site ifthe video program, with or without embedded URLs, is stored on a VHS,Beta, DVD or other medium. In this embodiment, the user PC 16 and/ortelevision 114 are connected to a VCR, DVD player or other appropriatedevice.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show two alternative embodiments for use with the presentinvention. For example, the user can view the interactive program usinga television set 18 or other display monitor in conjunction with adigital cable box 140, as shown in FIG. 5. In this embodiment, thedigital cable box 140 performs the functions of the personal computer 16shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the clientsoftware is stored in memory in the digital cable box 140. In oneembodiment, the digital cable box 140 includes two tuners, thus allowingboth the Web Page and the Video program to be simultaneously viewed onthe same screen. If Video and Webstream, however, are carried on onechannel, then only one tuner is necessary.

The client software retrieves URLs from the received video program,directly from the Internet connection 20 or via a separate data channel,interprets these URLs and directs the Web enabled browser to retrievethe particular relevant Web pages, and synchronizes the retrieved Webpages to the video content for display on the television 18, as shown inFIG. 5. In this embodiment, the relevant Web pages are preferably shownin one frame of the television 18 while the video program is displayedin another frame. Alternatively, the web page can replace the videoprogram on the display.

In this alternative embodiment, the digital cable set top box 140receives the television program from the multichannel cable. The URLscan be encoded into the digital program channel using MPEG1, MPEG2,MPEG4, MPEG7 or any other compression video scheme. Alternatively, theURLs can be transmitted to the digital cable boxes 140 from an Internetserver 148. The digital cable box 140 decodes the URLs from the digitalvideo signal or directly transmitted over the Internet 20. The clientsoftware decodes the URLs and retrieves the particular Web pages asdescribed above. The Web pages are then preferably synchronized with theparticular video frames and presented to the user.

As with all the embodiments described above, instead of receiving thevideo program from a transmission means, the video program can beaddressed directly from a local video source 144 if the video program,with or without embedded URLs, is stored on a VHS, Beta, DVD or othermedium. In this embodiment, the digital cable box 140 is connected to aVCR, DVD player or other appropriate device.

FIG. 6 discloses an embodiment where a digital TV 152 is the remotereception unit. In this embodiment, the digital TV 152 performs thefunctions of the personal computer, shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and thedigital cable box 140 shown in FIG. 5. In the embodiment shown in FIG.6, a processor means and memory are incorporated into the digital TV152. Further, the client software and Web browser software areimplemented into memory in the digital TV 152. All of the functionsdescribed above with reference to the other embodiments are performed ina similar manner by the digital TV 152 embodiment.

Although the digital cable box/TV 140, 18 and digital TV 152, shown inFIGS. 5 and 6, are incorporated into the embodiment of FIG. 1, insubstitution for the PC 16, they also could be substituted for the PC 16shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

The user can view the video and web content on one screen (in twowindows), or with the video on one display screen and the Web content ona separate display monitor. Alternatively, the user can access the videoor web content separately. Thus, the user can branch from video to webcontent and vice versa.

The present invention is well-suited to the education environment. Inthis embodiment, students and teachers access one or more Web servers.The software components include instructor and student user software,authoring software and database assessment software. In one suchembodiment, an instructor uses content creation software on a personalcomputer to easily integrate into their curriculum current informationpublished on the Web, through an easy to use interface 156 such as thatshown in FIG. 7. The instructor creates a playlist (i.e. linkfile) 160,the playlist 160 comprising a listing of Web pages, text notes andquestions. The Web sites and questions are set forth in a predeterminedorder and can be assigned times. Preferably, the URLs identifying theWeb site and time stamps are sent automatically to the desktop of eachstudent in the virtual community, either during playback of apre-recorded program or during a live event.

At each of the student workstations, the program is directed by theplaylist 160. In other words, the playlist 160 provides the structurefor the program. At predetermined times as dictated by the playlist 160,the browser will go fetch and display a Web page in a frame on thecomputer screen. Because program events can be set up in this manner atpredetermined times, the entire program and playlist can be prerecordedand stored in a Web database for later access by students.

A significant advantage of an embodiment for educational applications isthat the students and the instructor can be located anywhere, as long asthey are all connected to the Web. Because a server is essentiallycontrolling the program, the instructor output comes from the server andthe student workstations get automatically updated by the Web server.

This educational embodiment integrates Web content and other media withcollaborative groupware functionality to create an interactiveenvironment for students and teachers. In this embodiment, the studentcan receive a traditional video lesson through a frame in his or her Webbrowser, or from a television. Simultaneously, the present inventionprovides separate frames, an example of which is shown in FIG. 8, in thebrowser displaying: (1) Web pages 176 automatically delivered to eachstudent's desktop with information or exercises that complement thevideo presentation; (2) a chat dialogue frame 168 for conversing withthe instructor and/or other students online; and (3), an interactiveplaylist 164 of Web pages and questions comprising the lesson.

In the student interface of FIG. 8, each student can perform a virtualexperiment during a physics lesson to learn about gravity, for example.Further, the students are conversing with one another and the instructorin the chat dialogue frame 168. They may also send Web pages to oneanother and provide answers to questions from the teacher via the chatdialogue frame 168 of the student interface 176. With the chat feature,students may break into subgroups for collaborative learning. Whenever astudent in the group sends a message, the message is sent to theInternet server 20 and every other student in the subgroup receives andviews the message in their Chat dialogue frame 168.

The instructor, however, may retain control over the chat feature. Forexample, the instructor can terminate the chat feature or web pushing toterminate unruly on-line conversations or the sending of Web pages bystudents.

Unlike conventional distance learning systems, systems consistent withthe present invention are more powerful by allowing the instructor tofreely and conveniently exercise almost any type of testing strategy.The instructor can test students using a combination of the Chatdialogue feature and Web pages. For example, multiple choice questionsand short answer questions can appear in the Chat window 168. Essayquestions, requiring longer answers, become Web pages. As mentionedabove, students can perform virtual experiments on-line. Once theinstructor's personal computer receives student answers, student scoringcan be presented to the instructor in any format including tables,charts, diagrams, bar graphs, etc. The instructor, thus, can analyze theresults and has the capability of providing real-time feedback to thestudents.

Students can also receive individualized feedback via branchedinteractive audio, video and/or graphics responses. For example, theworkstation may branch to a particular audio response, preferablyprerecorded in the instructor's own voice, based on the student responseto a multiple choice question. In this embodiment, a plurality ofpotential audio responses are made available at the student'sworkstation according to any one of the methodologies set forth in U.S.Pat. No. 5,537,141, entitled DISTANCE LEARNING SYSTEM, hereinincorporated by reference. Alternatively, personalized video, audio andgraphics segments can be delivered and displayed to the student based ona student answer or personal profile in the manner set forth in U.S.Pat. No. 5,724,091, entitled COMPRESSED DIGITAL DATA INTERACTIVE PROGRAMSYSTEM, herein incorporated by reference.

Responses to student answers can be more substantive based on the memoryfeature of the system. The memory feature is an algorithm that selectsan interactive response to the user based not only on the student'scurrent answer selection, but also his or her previous responses, asdiscussed in the aforementioned applications. The algorithm, preferablystored in memory at each student's workstation and under processorcontrol, merely selects an output interactive response based on studentresponses. As another example, if a student gets three answers insequence right, he or she receives a more difficult question. If,however, the student misses one or more of the three questions, he orshe receives an easier question.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system is describedcapable of handling the education requirements of several schools in anefficiently designed network. The system shown in FIG. 9 solves theproblems inherent in attempting to service large numbers of users, themost obvious obstacles being the issues of load and performance. In thisembodiment shown in FIG. 9, communications servers 180 distribute androute messages across a LAN, WAN and the Internet. Referring to FIG. 9,in the center of the diagram is the Group Database server. Surroundingthe database server are several Com Servers 180, each serving an area192. Surrounding each Com Server 180 are squares representing userstations 188. The Communication Servers 180 are organized in noderelationships with one another.

Each node is responsible for serving an Area 192. An Area 192 is definedas a Virtual location serviced by a single Communications Server 180 (or“Com Server”). An Area 192 may be a single school, an office, or mayconsist of several actual physical locations. The definingcharacteristic of an Area 192 is that messages sent from one member ofan Area 192 to another need not be routed outside of the servicing ComServer 180.

An Area member is analogous to the frequently used term “user.” Forexample, a “user” may be a student in the educational embodimentdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

The Distributed Communication System of FIG. 9 shall permit the dynamicaddition of Communication Servers 180 within a group with little or noadministrative tasks as well as the addition of groups within an overallcommunications network. A Communication Server group consists of severaldefined Virtual Areas 192 (preferably, consisting of no more the 250members each), each area 192 serviced by a single Com Server 180. Thissystem shall allow members of one Area 192, or group to easilycommunicate with members of another Area 192 or group without anyconfiguration changes.

Generally, service of very large numbers of users has required largeexpensive servers and networks. As the user base increases, performancesuffers and hardware must be upgraded to service the demand.

The Distributed Communication System of the present invention allows thesame, relatively inexpensive machines to serve an ever-increasing userbase. The technique by which this will be accomplished will be throughthe routing of messages from one server to another when necessary.

The method essentially follows the same core pattern as IP routing andDNS lookups. If a message is for a member not belonging to the currentArea 192 or group, the message shall be routed through the DistributedCommunication System until its destination, or someone who knows thedestination and can deliver the message, is found.

The destination will be cached so subsequent messages for that member orgroup may be more efficiently delivered.

Referring again to FIG. 9, if a message is posted by member “A” and isintended only for the members of group 1 the message shall never leaveArea 1 Com Server. However, if the message is intended for members ofArea 1 and the members of Area 2, the Area 1 Com server forwards themessage to the group database server 184. The message shall be broadcastto the members of Area 1 and tagged in the database 184 as belonging toArea 2. The message is then routed to Area 2 and broadcast to Area 2members. With this technique any member can potentially send a messageto any other member. If the Area Com server 180 does not recognize thedestination, the message is forwarded up the line. Each Com server 180does not need to know about any other server 180. Messages are routeduntil they delivered. If undeliverable, the original sender is notified.

New Areas 192 can be added on the fly. When a new Com server 188 isadded to the network, it registers itself with the database application.Henceforth, any message destined for the new Area 192 can be routedproperly without altering the other Area Servers 180.

This method and system works for global messages or for user to usermessages. Furthermore, new Groups may also be dynamically added. Onceadded, each new Group Database Server 184 registers itself with theexisting database servers 184. This distribution of load permits nearlyunlimited expansion with existing software and hardware. Each servermanages a finite number of members, cumulatively serving a growingcommunity.

Users need not be informed as to the particular Com Server 180 theyshould connect to. Members are directed to a single URL. The selectionof the server for user connection is determined by load balancingsoftware. In this manner, the network may appear to be a global networkof Servers or simply a local classroom.

The unique aspects of this architecture, using database servers asrouting gateways, using techniques resembling IP routing and DNS lookup,enables this system to serve with minimum administration andconfiguration and with lower end, cost-effective hardware.

Donut Structure and Use

Another embodiment consistent with the present invention specifies a“donut” of dynamic, hierarchical, shared user-profile information. Adonut may specify the following: user characteristics, viewingpreferences, hobbies, and spending habits. The donut contains a userprofile or acts as a key to a data repository containing it, and it maybe stored in a file-type structure on a computer-readable medium such asa memory. The donut is accessed by browser programs, associated webserver programs, and other applications for use in routing content tothe user's machine associated with the donut. The user machine mayinclude a wide variety of devices such as, for example, a personalcomputer, a television, a cable box, a satellite box, video gameconsole, and a personal digital assistant.

Browser programs typically include a file created by a web server tolocally store data and track web sites, identified by URLs, accessed bythe user through the browser program. These files are referred to ascookie files, which contain a range of URLs for which they are valid.When the browser encounters the URLs again, it sends the correspondingcookie files to the web server identified by the URLs.

In the present invention, browsers may access a donut file or databasestructure storing donuts, and web servers may include files or otherdatabase structures for storing copies of the donut. The donut file fora particular user is typically stored only on the server but could bestored locally on the user's machine or on both the server and theuser's machine. The donut thus implements a dynamic store of sharedprofile data that is exchanged between client and server, with theflexibility to collect and process that data in three ways: client-sideevaluation, http-based server-side evaluation, and network-basedserver-side evaluation. The donut has an advantage over a cookie file inthat the donut file is database driven and typically stored on a server,preventing a user from deleting or otherwise tampering with the donutfile. Cookie files, in comparison, are stored locally on a user'smachine. In addition, by storing a donut file on a server, a user maylog onto a network from any machine and still access the user's donutfile and receive content based upon the donut file.

A donut, more specifically, is an hierarchical attribute value pair datastructure including a collection of crumbs. A crumb is the smallest unitof data corresponding to a meaning value pair associated with aparticular donut. For example, a user's age would be a crumb associatedwith the user's primary donut. The donut data structure includes namesplus associated crumbs. At the top level of the hierarchy, a top donutis associated with a user, a chat room, a network service, or otherappropriate business entity or service. Each donut contains a set ofcrumbs and a set of sub-donuts.

A sub-donut is a donut associated with another donut rather than anexternal entity such as, for example, a user. An example of a sub-donutis a user's address. The user's address references the user's primarydonut and is stored in a sub-donut, and the sub-donut contains crumbsfor each piece of information in the address. Donuts are stored withhierarchical relationships, meaning that a donut can have associatedsub-donuts and the sub-donuts can also each have associated sub-donuts.The donut thus may have many levels of sub-donuts within itshierarchical structure.

Some donuts are owned by only one parent donut. Other donuts are sharedamong several or many parent donuts. These shared donuts profile abusiness entity, such as an individual program, that is common to all;an example includes members of the same chat room. This provides a wayto identify a group of users for a chat service. Also, by sharing thedonut a user need not enter a new profile for using different services;the services share and use the one donut.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of logical structure 200 of a donut forimplementing user-profile information. This structure may be stored on acomputer-readable medium, such as a memory, for access by an associatedmachine. The term “donut” is used only as a label and refers toinformation residing on a server and accessible by a client for use inpushing or assigning particular content to the client.

Structure 200 uses database tables for storing and maintaining theuser-profile information, which includes any type of informationidentifying a user or corresponding client machine. Structure 200includes a user table 202, identifying a particular network user, andeach user would typically be identified by a separate table. Table 202may also include information identifying each user's name and anassociated password and identification (ID). A directory table 204maintains a directory listing of the network users.

A separate donut table 206 maintains user-profile information for aparticular user. Donut table 206 is associated with the correspondingtable 202 for that user and with the directory table 204. Donut table206 is also associated with a donut hierarchy table 208, whichidentifies and maintains hierarchical relationships for table 206. Eachdonut table 206 may include an associated crumb table 212 for use inidentifying and maintaining particular attributes for the user-profileinformation. An associated attribute table 210 stores and maintains theinformation for those attributes.

The user profile may contain a wide variety of information concerninguser characteristics for use in determining content to push to a user.As further explained below, the content may include any type ofinformation such as video, audio, graphics, text, and multimediacontent. Examples of content to be selectively pushed to the user basedupon the user-profile information include, but are not limited to, thefollowing: advertisements; player profiles for sporting events; music orother audio information; icons representing particular services;surveys; and program suggestions. Also, when a video program providesdifferent video streams for different camera angles, such as a sportingevent, the particular camera angle may be chosen based upon the userprofile. In addition, particular drama presentations provide differentvideo streams for various plot changes, and a video stream for aparticular plot to be displayed to a user may be chosen based upon theuser profile.

The surveys may involve selectively transmitting questions to a userbased upon the user's donut. The user's answers to the questions may beused to further update the donut. As an example of survey content,consider an automobile manufacturer as an advertiser that has determinedthat the answers to ten questions, asked in a specific order, are vitalto determining how the manufacturer is going to market to a particularuser. In this example, the server or network uses the donut to maintainwhat questions have been answered and which have not been answered. Thedonut can be utilized to determine which of the ten possible questionsshould be pushed to the user when the network determines, according to aparticular schedule, that it is time for the manufacturer's survey to bepushed to the user.

This example further illustrates how individual advertising may beselected for particular users. The answers to the surveys may be used toprovide a second level of information within an advertisement pushed toa particular user. The network may use demographic data in the user'sdonut, for example, to determine which advertisement and survey to pushto the user. The user's answers to the questions in the survey may beused to push additional advertisements to the user or additional contentfor the advertisement already pushed. Also, the network can tailor asurvey to a particular user by selecting additional questions for thesurvey, and an order of presentation of the questions, based upon theuser's answers. Accordingly, the network can dynamically modify andupdate a user's donut to further fine-tune the processing of selectingparticular content to push to the user based upon the user's donut.

An execution environment for donuts may be implemented with an easilyprogrammed JAVA module, an example of which is provided in Table 1illustrating template-based code, generated by a graphical userinterface (GUI). This module may be implemented as an applicationprogram interface (API) on a user's machine for accessing the user'sdonut file on a server. If the user's machine does not contain such amodule, the user's machine may download it as a JAVA Archive (JAR) filefor local execution.

TABLE 1 import actv.nub.* ; public class PilotYankees implementsProcessor {    public void process(Nub nub, Donut client, Donut action)      throws NubException    {       if (client.check(“OWNS_PILOT”) &&            action.getValue(“FAN_             OF”).equals(“Yankees”) ) {         nub.change(“content”, YankeePilotChallenge);       }    } }

The module in Table 1 can obtain crumb values from a donut service,branch on those values and other conditions, set existing crumb values,and create new crumbs as desired. Additionally, the module can interactdirectly with systems such as a distributed community network foradditional functionality, including dynamic assignment to content andadvertising push channels. An example of a distributed community networkis disclosed in U.S. application of Craig D. Ullman, Michael R. Abato,Jeffrey M. Harrington, and Carl R. Duda, entitled “ENHANCED VIDEOPROGRAMMING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A DISTRIBUTED COMMUNITYNETWORK,” and filed on Sep. 15, 1999. The donut may be used with othertypes of networks as well.

A module processing a donut can execute in three modes: as an httpservlet connected directly to a database for donut persistence; as aservice responding to requests coming through a distributed communitynetwork and unconnected to a database for donut persistence; and on theclient machine, which has direct access to user input, but uses thedonut persistence by proxy through a distributed community network.

FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C are a flow chart of a process 220 for generatingand implementing donuts specifying user-profile information. Process 220may be implemented in software modules on a machine such as a web serverin the exemplary network described above. In process 220, a userattempts to log onto the network (step 222). In response, the serverdetermines if a donut exists in the database for this user (step 224).If a donut does not exist (step 226), the server queries the user,receives a response to the query, and generates a donut for the userbased upon the response, using exemplary database structure 200 (step232). An example of a query is provided below. Otherwise, if a donutdoes exist for the user (step 226), the server queries the user in orderto update the donut (step 228) and implements the updates to the donut,using exemplary database structure 200 (step 230). The queries mayinvolve the server transmitting a series of questions to the user andreceiving from the user replies to the question. The queries may alsoinvolve survey questions as described above. The server may require aresponse in order for the user to receive content from the network.

The server may optionally receive user-profile content for the user fromanother source. For example, a user profile may already exist for theuser from another network-based system, and the server may receive thatprofile. Upon optionally receiving the other user-profile content, suchas a pre-existing user profile, the server selectively incorporates thecontent into the donut (step 234). The server may base the incorporationof the pre-existing other user-profile content on particular criteriasuch as the types of content required for the user profile and when thepre-existing user profile was updated. In addition, the server mayincorporate all of the content or only selected portions of it.

The server assigns the user to a team based upon the user's donut andsaves an indication of the assignment in the user's donut (step 236). Ateam specifies a chat room for this user for a chat service; the donutinformation may be used with other network services as well. If the useralready had a donut in the system, the server may use a pre-existingroom assignment as a default assignment, or assign the user to a newteam, particularly if the user's donut has been substantially updated.The server stores the user's donut in the database and optionallytransmits a copy of the donut or particular portions of it for storageon the user's machine (step 238). The user's machine, if it receives thedonut, locally stores the donut or the updates to it.

After creating or updating a donut for the user, the server selectscontent for transmission to the user based upon the user-profileinformation stored in the user's donut (step 240). The selected contentmay be based upon particular criteria involving the user-profileinformation in the user's donut, and it may include a wide variety oftypes of information. The content may include networked content, meaningany type of information available via a Uniform Resource Identifier(URI) (step 254). A URI is a compact string of characters foridentifying an abstract or physical resource. More specifically, URIsprovide a simple and extensible means for identifying a resource, and aURI can be further classified as a locator, a name, or both. Thespecification of URI syntax and semantics is derived from conceptsintroduced by the World Wide Web global information initiative. URIsinclude, for example, URLs and Uniform Resource Names (URNs). A URL is asubset of a URI that identifies resources via a representation of theirprimary access mechanism, such as their network “location,” rather thanidentifying the resource by name or other attribute of that resource.The term URN refers to a subset of URI that is required to remainglobally unique and persistent even when the resource ceases to exist orbecomes unavailable.

The selected content may also include video content (step 255); audiocontent (step 256); or any type of multimedia content (step 257). Themultimedia content may include, for example, particular types ofanimations or slide shows selected for transmission to the user'smachine based upon the user's preferences or characteristics asidentified in the user's donut. The video and audio content may include,for example, particular video and audio advertisements potentially ofinterest to the user and selected for transmission to the user's machinebased upon the user's identified preferences. The video, audio, ormultimedia content may include content related to a chat room discussionamong the user and other members of the user's chat room or team. It mayalso include content related to a program being viewed by the user. Forexample, if the user views a sports program, the content may includestatistics or videos of past sports programs between the same teams orplayers, depending on the user's identified preferences or interests assaved in the user's donut.

The selected content may also include a particular video stream, asidentified above (step 258). In particular, several video streamscaptured from different camera angles may be available for a particularprogram. The server may select a video stream for display to the userbased upon the user's stated preferences. For example, a user may havestated a preference for watching the quarterback during a football gameand, therefore, a video stream following the quarterback is selected fortransmission to the user's machine. Another user may have expressed aninterest in watching wide receivers, for example, and a video stream ofthe receivers is selected for transmission to that user's machine.Technology for providing multiple video streams of a program isdisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,881, which is incorporated herein byreference.

The selected content may also include an executable object orapplication (step 259). For example, the server may transmit to the usera JAVA game or other types of electronic games based upon the user'spreferences. The executable objects may also be used to dynamically pushcustomized code to the user's machine while another applicationexecutes. In addition, selected executable objects may be used tofacilitate electronic commerce transactions. In particular,identification of particular products available for purchase may betransmitted to the user based upon the user's preferences, and anexecutable object can be used to provide a common electronic “shoppingcart” where the user can drag and drop identification of products topurchase among multiple vendors. The electronic shopping cart saves anidentification of the products, and potentially other information, foruse in transmitting and executing a purchase request for the products.

The selected content can include other types of content as well (step260). Based upon the determination, the server pushes the particularcontent to the user's machine (step 242).

The server also monitors the user's activity in order to dynamicallyupdate the user's donut (step 244). The user's activity may involve anytype of information relating to the user's interaction with the networkor program content provided to the user. For example, the server maydetect the following: the rate at which the user selects or “clicks on”URLs to request particular content; which URLs the user selects; theamount of elapsed time the user has remained logged onto the network;the extent to which the user participates in chat room discussions; andany other such information.

The server also determines whether to update the user's donut based uponthe monitored user activity (step 246). This determination may be basedupon particular criteria related to the user's activity. For example,the server may store particular types of activity or thresholds foractivity and compare them to the user's monitored activity, providingfor an update when the user's activity matches the particular types ofactivity or exceeds the thresholds. It may also be updated based uponsurvey questions. If the server has determined based on the criteriathat the user's donut is to be updated (step 248), it dynamicallyupdates the donut based on the user's activity, saves the updates, andoptionally sends the updates to the user's machine (step 250).Otherwise, if the criteria have not been met, the server does not updatethe donut.

The server also detects whether the user has logged off the network(step 252). If the user remains logged onto the network, the servercontinues to select and push content to the user based upon the user'sdonut (steps 240, 242, 254-260), monitor the user's activity (step 244),and dynamically update the user's donut (steps 246, 248, and 250).

The following provides an example of use of a donut. During a program,the server sends a user, Bob Smith, a question which states, “Do you owna Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)?” Bob returns a “Yes” answer. Thecorresponding crumb includes the meaning value pair PDA=True, which isthen sent via the Internet to a distributed community network, asidentified above. This crumb is captured from the distributed communitynetwork and stored in the database as a crumb in the sub-donut“Technology” under Bob Smith's donut. A copy of the crumb is storedlocally in the client browser on Bob Smith's machine.

Later in the program, the host of the television program is reviewingthe latest PDAs. The producer of the program wants to send web contentspecific to all the users on-line about PDAs. The producer pushes to allthe users on-line a playlist item, as identified above, parameterized onwhether a user has a PDA. Bob Smith's browser receives the playlistitem, which references his donut. The browser recalls the value pairPDA=True, and from the logic in the playlist item, determines that Bobshould see in his browser a web page that offers a discount on a PDAupgrade, rather than a web page that offers the user the opportunity tobuy a new PDA for the first time.

In addition to this route of the crumb and the decision making occurringon the client side, the same process can occur solely on the serverside.

Table 2 provides an Extensible Markup Language (XML) code listing for anexemplary donut. Table 3 provides an XML code listing for an exemplarycollection of donuts. In Tables 2 and 3 the indentation represents thehierarchical structure of the donuts.

TABLE 2 <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <!DOCTYPE htvuser SYSTEM“donut.dtd” [ ]> <htvuser name=“Bart Simpson” uid=“bart” pw=“dude!”> <donut desc=“bart” id=“bart”>  <crumb desc=“email” value=“barf@fox.net”/>  <crumb dest=“ccn” value=“amex 5592 3800 0165 1872 exp 01” />  <donutdesc=“thebox”>   <crumb desc=“style” value=“rock” />   <crumbdesc=“region” value=“NE” />   <crumb desc=“fanof” value=“Offspring, LimpBizkit” />   <crumb desc=“sex” value=“yes” />  </donut>  </donut></htvuser> <!-- Client code can refer to:  bart.ccn  bart.thebox.region bart.thebox.fanof  etc. -->

TABLE 3 <?ml version=”1.0” encoding=”UTF-8”?> <!DOCTYPE teamlist SYSTEM“donut.dtd” [ ]> <teamlist>  <donut    desc=”team”       id=”hot-sax-mets”        shared=”true”       members=”lisa,sally,lukas”>  <crumb desc=”name”    value=”HotSaxophonists Lusting after the Met's Shortstop” />  <crumbdesc=”team-homepage”   value=”http://home.springfield.net/~lisa/mitt-lusters.html” /> <crumb desc=”trivia-tries” value=”22” />  <crumb desc=”trivia-correct”value=”5” />  <crumb desc=”trivia-prizes” value=”05” />  </donut> <htvuser name=”Sally Brown” uid=”sally” pw=”beethoven”“>  <donutdesc=”sally” id=”sally”>   <crumb desc=”email” value=”sally@shulz.net”/>   <crumb desc=”cnn” value=”mc 5592 3800 0165 1872 exp 012” />  <donut desc=”espn” subs=”hot-sax-mets”>   <crumb desc=”sports”value=”skiing” />   <crumb desc=”agegroup” value=”2-5” />   </donut> </donut>  </htvuser>  <htvuser name=”Lisa Simpson” uid=”lisa”pw=”’trane ”>  <donut desc=”lisa” id=”lisa”>   <crumb desc=”email”value=”lisa@fox.net” />   <crumb desc=”ccn” value=”visa 5592 3800 01651872 exp 02” />   <donut desc=”espn” subs=”hot-sax-mets”>   <crumbdesc=”sports” value=”curling,wwf” />   <crumb desc=”agegroup” value=”5-10” />   <crumb desc=”education” value=”Springfield” />   </donut> </donut>  </htvuser>  <htvuser name=”Lukas Doright” uid=”duanne”pw=”tomgirl”>  <donut desc=”lukas” id=”lukas”>   <crumb desc=”email”value=”lukas@aol.com” />   <crumb desc=”ccn” value=”amex 5592 3800 01651872 exp 00” />   <donut desc=”espn” subs=”hot-sax-mets”>   <crumbdesc=”sports” value=”baseball” />   <crumb desc=”agegroup” value=”18-24”/>   </donut>  </donut>  </htvuser> </teamlist>

Using the foregoing embodiments, methods and processes, the system ofthe present invention creates a synergistic experience combining thevast resources of the Internet with the presentation capabilities oftelevision.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of compiling and maintaininginformation for use in routing and transmitting content to a machine viaa network, the method comprising: receiving user activity informationfrom the machine; updating a user profile based on the received useractivity information; determining a uniform resource identifier foridentifying audio or video content to transmit to the machine based onthe updated user profile; inheriting user profile attributes into theuser profile from a group of which the user is a member; and storing theuser profile in a hierarchical attribute value-pair data structure,wherein the audio or video content is selected based on the user profileand on examination of at least one other user profile.
 2. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the content comprises an executable object.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: specifying in the datastructure information identifying preferences of the user.
 4. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: dynamically changing the user profile inthe hierarchical structure based upon updated information.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: querying the user to obtain the userprofile.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmittingcontent to the machine for a particular service based upon the userprofile.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: dynamicallyupdating the user profile.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:specifying the user profile for use in selecting at least one of thefollowing to transmit to the machine: information available via aUniform Resource Identifier, video content, audio content, multimediacontent, a particular video stream, or an executable object.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: specifying the address of one ormore devices selected from the group consisting of a personal computer,a television, a cable box, a satellite box, video game console and apersonal digital assistant.
 10. A method of accessing information foruse in routing and transmitting content to a machine via a network, themethod comprising: accessing, via a network connection, a user profilecomprising at least one hierarchical attribute value-pair data structurestored in a computer-readable medium on a server; transmitting, to theserver, data comprising an identification of the machine and informationof the user profile comprising user activity information for determininga uniform resource identifier, wherein the data is stored on the serverin the at least one hierarchical attribute value-pair data structure;and inheriting user profile attributes into the user profile from agroup of which the user is a member, wherein the content is selectedbased on the user profile and on examination of at least one other userprofile.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the content comprises anexecutable object.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:storing the data structure in a memory associated with the machine. 13.The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing the data structurein a memory associated with the server having the network connectionwith the machine.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:dynamically updating the user profile.
 15. The method of claim 10,further comprising: selecting, based upon the user profile, at least oneof the following for transmission to the machine: information availablevia a Uniform Resource Identifier, video content, audio content,multimedia content, a particular video stream, or an executable object.16. An apparatus to access information for use in routing andtransmitting content to a machine via a network, comprising: networkingmeans for establishing a network connection from a machine; accessingmeans for accessing via the network connection a hierarchicalattribute-value pair data structure stored in a computer-readablemedium; inheritance means for inheriting user profile attributes into auser profile from a group of which a user is a member; and transmittingmeans for transmitting information via the network connection forspecifying in the data structure an identification of the machine, andinformation of the user profile comprising user activity information fordetermining a uniform resource indicator, wherein the content isselected based on the user profile and on examination of at least oneother user profile.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:storage means associated with the machine for storing the datastructure.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising: storagemeans associated with a server having the network connection with themachine, the storage means being arranged to store the data structure.19. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising: means for dynamicallyupdating the user profile.
 20. The apparatus of claim 16, furthercomprising: means for selecting, based upon the user profile, at leastone of the following for transmission to the machine: informationavailable via a Uniform Resource Identifier, video content, audiocontent, multimedia content, a particular video stream, or an executableobject.
 21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the content comprises anexecutable object.
 22. An apparatus to compile and maintain informationfor use in routing and transmitting content to a machine via a networkby specifying particular fields within a computer-readable medium, theapparatus comprising: a receiver for receiving user activity informationfor updating a user profile; and a computer-readable medium comprisinginformation of the user profile for determining a uniform resourceidentifier for identifying content to transmit to the machine and anidentification of the machine, wherein the user profile comprisesinformation in a hierarchical attribute value-pair data structure andfurther comprises inherited user profile attributes from a group ofwhich the user is a member, and wherein the content is selected based onthe user profile and on examination of at least one other user profile.23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the content comprises anexecutable object.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the userprofile further comprises information identifying preferences of theuser.
 25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the user profile isdynamically changed based upon updated information.
 26. The apparatus ofclaim 22, wherein the user profile is obtained by querying the user. 27.The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the content is transmitted to themachine for a particular service based upon the user profile.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 22, wherein the user profile is dynamically updated.29. The apparatus of claim 22, where the user profile is used to selectat least one of the following to transmit to the machine: informationavailable via a Uniform Resource Identifier, video content, audiocontent, multimedia content, a particular video stream, or an executableobject.
 30. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the machine is selectedfrom the group consisting of a personal computer, a television, a cablebox, a satellite box, video game console and a personal digitalassistant.